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Masks categorically do not reduce oxygen saturation. This is a lie made up as an excuse by those who believe the pandemic is a hoax and that wearing a mask somehow encroaches on their rights. This is not an issue of freedom.
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If you wear a scarf around your face when it's cold you can wear a mask over your face during a pandemic. Caring about the safety and wellbeing of others means that you put your discomfort aside and choose to follow the best advice we have at the moment.
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N.B. I fully understand the impact that mental health and anxiety may have on mask-wearing; these tweets are not directed towards you.
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The masks like the one in my video are used to reduce DROPLET not AIRBORNE transmission. N95s do the latter, but they have to be rigorously fit tested to work and we cannot do that (nor have supply) for everyone.
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We know full well that they won’t entirely prevent COVID-19 transmission, but they will reduce it. We have good evidence for that. Something doesn’t have to be foolproof for it to be useful.
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EDIT: I have removed the original part of the caption which read: "there are ZERO medical conditions that mean that you cannot physically wear a mask". I have been informed that people have been using this statement as an excuse to harass/abuse individuals with disabilities...
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...for whom it simply may not be practical/possible to wear a mask. How anyone can think this is acceptable I do not understand. It is not. Remember, these people may well be the most vulnerable in society that we are wearing masks in order to protect.
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I apologise for the lack of nuance in the manner of my wording. Unfortunately, there are many claiming fake medical reasons as to why they shouldn't have to do the bare minimum of wearing a mask.
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I will endeavour to find a better way of challenging and addressing this without negatively impacting those most vulnerable, as this is the last thing I would want to do.
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For those asking about *when* masks/face coverings are beneficial, the best evidence we have is for wearing them both inside (due to the lack of air flow to disperse droplets) and when social distancing isn’t possible.
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For those that said the test was too short, here are my O2 sats after wearing this particular mask at work today for >2hrs since my last break. Clerking patients and going up and down stairs. Still no hypoxia. The vast majority of you can wear one for 30mins in a shop.
...and again, just because I’m stressing the importance of this and showing that they don’t cause hypoxia, it doesn’t negate that some people will find them very uncomfortable or struggle to wear them. By the rest of us doing our part we can keep them as safe as possible.
